in democracies and where governments are returned on the majorities, it isn't easy to solve fiscal robs, as we know from many of the parts of the world. and win of the few things i've learned in the market is never let a cry sess go to waste and it's usually when governments start to put things under the carpet. even when there is a deal, it's not clear to me that there will be anything of marm substance. the other interesting thing this morning is the pmis we've had in china if a and europe are showing a shift to the better, albeit very modest and gradual. >> jim, this dave walker, you and i both know that with regard to the numbers in europe and the u.s. are a lot worse than advertised. and while the u.s. faces a fiscal cliff, which hopefully we can avoid, europe faces a financial cliff because the u.s. has restructured its financial institutions and europe has not. what about the practical implications of that fact? >> well, i think -- i mean, that is a big ongoing dilemma, but i think the thing that people are understandably relieved about, and here is a super mario moment, this spi